I have been a fan of ballet for exactly one week today. Watching the Emerging Dancer Awards as a ballet novice it was difficult to gauge what I was in for. As it turns out, ballet is not as antiquated as I originally thought. The six nominees were able to choose two pieces and as impressive as the leaps and bounds of the classical pieces were (...) the character pieces were where the competition really came alive for me. Georgia Grayson

Introducing each dancer was a short film of them rehearsing and discussing their performance choices. Exceptionally touching and real, this use of film added a level of accessibility to the dancers, personalising each performance. From the drunken character solo of Les Bourgeois, which begged the question if an intoxicated man could actually complete such highly technical grand allegro, to the classical Black Swan from Swan Lake Act II, the level of technique coupled with such skilled performance quality was extraordinary. Rhian Lewis

Shiori Kase, the youngest at just 19, was a deserving winner with her pure lines and clean technique. She danced Giselle with a quiet, lyrical innocence and her Black Swan showed power and precision. Also performing was Vadim Muntagirov, an already rapidly-rising star, who jumped sky-high and dazzled with multiple pirouettes. Laurretta Summerscales presented a wide-eyed, radiant and youthful Aurora; her Carmen was contrastingly teasing and seductive. Max Westwell was handsome in Don Quixote but lacked vibrancy. Laura Dodge

The evening’s most light-hearted moments came with James Streeter’s and Max Westwell’s interpretations of Les Bourgeois (a 1962 comic song by Jacques Brel criticising the middle-class). Streeter showed off his strong acting abilities, creating an extremely entertaining paradoxical act where a childlike playfulness and joie de vivre intertwined with a vividly portrayed state of advanced drunkenness. (...) Westwell personalised his performance and gave it a more masculine, mature air, a style highly visible in his virile and self-assured, slightly arrogant Don Quixote. If only he hadn’t shut the public off with a recurring cold gaze unveiling effort and concentration. Mara Minculescu

Performing solos from Giselle and Flames of Paris, Muntagirov had me mesmerized from his very first soaring jeté (and boy, there were many). (...) However, it was Ksenia Ovsyanick who stole the show with her uncomfortably beautiful performance of In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. She stared the audience out as she contorted her limbs in ways that shouldn’t be possible. Each line and shape seamlessly melted into the next and these fluid, tumbling movements, counteracted by great moments of suspension and stillness, made the whole piece spellbinding. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the night. Lara Gregorians

The award was announced by Wayne Eagling, who beamed like a proud father when Shiori Kase was announced as the gracious winner. Presented by Carlos Acosta, the award means as much for English National Ballet as a whole. This is a company with a new crop of exciting talent which future audiences will admire as the dancers continue to emerge. Kim Brewin

After the judges had come to a decision, Wayne Eagling, Creative Director of the English National Ballet, presented the award to Shiori Kase, whose flawless elegance on stage and projection to the audience did her great credit. As she took the award, speechless and beaming, she was able to say little more than a shocked ‘thank you’ to the assembled judges and ecstatic audience. But of course, in the words of Wayne Eagling, “That’s the wonderful thing about dance... you don’t need to say a word.” Matt Walker